Laws to care for older people are "simply inadequate", a member of the Law Reform Commission has said.
Ms Patricia Rickard-Clarke told a conference on the law and the elderly that deficiencies in the legal system and standards of care provided opportunities for abuse. Abuse could be physical, financial, psychological or due to neglect.
The conference was hosted by the Irish Woman Lawyers' Association.
Criticising the absence of legislation and/or regulations to set out minimum standards of care, she said there were issues about the administration of drugs to older people in nursing homes. She added that many care staff responsible for administering drugs lacked knowledge about them - leading to "errors".
Older people cared for in their own homes or Government-run nursing homes were the most vulnerable as the Nursing Home Act 1990 dealt with standards only in private nursing homes, she said. Even this Act was "inadequate, ambiguous, undefined and non-specific".
She said that though the Minister had the power to make and change regulations under this Act, they had remained "virtually unamended" and that it was up to an elderly person to make a complaint to an inspecting officer if their care was inadequate. "It is generally accepted that abuse in domiciliary setting is the commonest type of abuse but the most difficult to combat," she said.
Distinctions between standards of care in different settings must be abolished. "The main focus should be to ensure that all care providers meet national minimum standards."
On wardship, Ms Rickard-Clarke, questioned the "all-or-nothing" way it was applied. Making an older person a ward of court may be necessary to protect them, but they must be declared "of unsound mind and incapable of managing his person or property".
"It raises questions as to whether the interference with bodily integrity and property rights is proportionate to the overall aim of protecting the interests of vulnerable adults."
The commission called for "a new decision-making framework be put in place for the protection of vulnerable adults". The elderly were, she continued, "particularly vulnerable to financial abuse". The "misuse" of enduring power of attorney was one of the main factors in this.
She called for adequate supervision, awareness campaigns among health, legal and social care professionals and the building of measures against abuse into the system. Overall, she said, "comprehensive legislation similar to the Care Standards Act in the UK" was needed.
